In early February, 1912, 37-year-old Helen Imhoff died on the scene from an abortion perpetrated by Dr. William A. Beringer and midwife Margaret Meyer. They were indicted by a Grand Jury on March 1, but the case never went to trial.

The Directory of Deceased American Physicians lists a Dr. William A. Bieringer, an allopath, who died in Chicago on June 3, 1912, which certainly clears up any mystery about why the case against him didn't go to trial.

According to his passport application, he was born in Bielefeld, Germany, on May 7, 1872. He came to the US aboard the Alfer on March 20, 1891 and was naturalized in Chicago on February 5, 1910. He was described as 5'11", with brown eyes, dark brown hair, a fair complexion, straight nose, round face, and pointed chin.

The 1910 Census shows Beiringer and his wife, Emily, living in Chicago with a servant and no children.